Dave Kikoski's compositions are not simply pianistic experiments out on the fingers of jazz. He draws on styles as diverse as Brazilian samba and English pro¬gressive rock. There are so many styles of music, jazz and otherwise, that you're exposed to. The challenge is to use all that in your own way, to personalize all that has come before you and all that is happening around you. To get the music the way you want it, there's a lot of work involved."
"For me, the main thing is spontaneity and taking chances", says Dave Kikoski. "You have to study and know the traditions, but then you have to play things that haven't been played before. It becomes a bal¬ance of knowing the tradition and using your own original voice to add to it."